Custom Solutions

Automotive Application: In-dash Video Display System

Requirement

Automotive electronics manufacturer required an FPGA based embedded processor platform to support a next generation in-dash video display system.

The goal was to build a low cost based embedded video system with integrated Nios II processor to control the display of information. The challenge was how to resolve the DDR memory access conflicts between the streaming video data sources and the Nios II processor. When contentions occur, either the video display was impacted or user interface degraded.

Solution

Microtronix developed custom FIFO based Multi-port Avalon Streaming Memory Controller to support streaming video in conjunction with an FPGA based Nios II embedded soft-core processor. This was the first application of a FIFO based memory interface for streaming video systems.

Result

Engineers conceived and developed a FIFO based multi-port streaming memory controller which maximized the available memory bandwidth by using contiguous back-to-back burst mode access cycles. When combined with a unique look ahead control mechanism to empty and fill the FIFO's it was possible to eliminate memory access contentions and the associated negative impact on the quality of the display.